Dodgers might be treating Blake Snell's ramp up too preciously after abbreviated 2025

The Dodgers are being cautious with Blake Snell, who missed exactly four months of last year's regular season with shoulder inflammation. He said at DodgerFest that his goal is to be ready by Opening Day, but there's no guarantee.

On one hand, the Dodgers have no reason to rush Snell if all of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, and one of Emmet Sheehan, Gavin Stone, or River Ryan are ready. The latter three will be battling for a 26-man spot in spring training and could pick up a few of Snell's starts at the beginning of the season to continue to differentiate themselves from each other.

And Snell put up a heroic effort during the postseason, alongside the rest of the Dodgers rotation. His eight-inning, one-hit start against the Brewers in the NLCS ended up overshadowed by Yamamoto's back-to-back complete games, but it was no less astounding in itself.

But we're going to be a little ungenerous about the Dodgers "slow-playing" Snell's progression. He said his arm was "exhausted" after the season ... but he pitched less than 100 innings between the regular and postseason, when he was making almost $28.5 million. To put that into perspective: 37-year-old Clayton Kershaw, who has also battled through injuries over the past few years, pitched more.

Dodgers treating Blake Snell with kid gloves isn't sitting well with some fans

It's a tough line to walk. On one hand, pushing Snell before he feels he's ready could lead to more problems and burnt money down the line. And, as we've established, the Dodgers have more than enough depth to cover for any absence.

On the other, the Dodgers shouldn't be okay with paying him as much as $36 million a year for around 100 innings a season. Sure, the Dodgers can just muddle through the regular season — they even lost their chance at a bye in 2025 but still won the whole thing — as long as their entire rotation is ready by October, but does it really justify the cost of the contract?

The Dodgers' brass would almost certainly say yes. Even if Snell were to pitch just 11 starts every season he's in LA, they would say his contract was worth every penny if he continues to show up in the postseason the way he did.

It sounds like Snell will be back sometime soon after Opening Day even if he's not quite ready by then, which is reassuring, but being "exhausted" after pitching just 100 innings in a season falls flat with fans. Not to be your granddad grumpily reminiscing on the days when starters used to throw 200+ innings a season — but we're still allowed to expect more from the multi-millionaires on our team.